One Transfer Who Will Help Ease NFL Draft Losses for LSU Football

Last summer, LSU football was looking for safeties in the transfer portal after losing two starters, Major Burns and Sage Ryan.

LSU went out and filled those needs with Houston transfer AJ Haulcy and NC State transfer Tamarcus Cooley. The duo combined for 158 tackles, six pass breakups and five interceptions covering the top of the secondary.

Haulcy produced over half of those stats alone, recording 88 tackles, four pass breakups and three interceptions in his lone season with the Tigers.

Now Haulcy is bound for the NFL, with the Indianapolis Colts using their third-round pick on him. But that left LSU back in the same position as last summer: looking for someone to fill a starting safety role.

LSU's Next Safety, Ty Benefield

Luckily for the Tigers, it wasn't too hard. Boise State transfer Ty Benefield has proven to be the clear choice through spring practices. In watching him throughout spring, he's clearly set apart. He's taller, faster and bigger than everyone else in the safety room.

Lane Kiffin sees this. But he sees more off the field, too. He compared Benefield to Trey'Dez Green and Jordan Seaton, who are expected to be two of LSU's most impactful offensive players.

"Well, his skill set is ultra-elite, but so is his mindset. That's really, really unique to have because they usually don't coincide," Kiffin said about Green. "Ty, the safety, has it too … if you were a scout out there watching, you know those three guys would stand out from a skill set of ultra elite. What the scout doesn't know just by watching is how they work and their mindset."

Kiffin is right. In his own scouting of Benefield, he and his staff saw something that set him apart before he even arrived on campus, as he is just one of four defensive backs to transfer into the program known as "DBU."

What they saw was a player who stood at 6-foot-3 and appeared in all but one game across three seasons at Boise State. His career as a Bronco ended with being named the Mountain West Championship Game's defensive MVP and earning back-to-back first-team All-Mountain West honors in 2024 and 2025.

Benefield played 355 snaps in man coverage in 2025, fitting directly into Blake Baker's defense, which asks its safeties to play man coverage, allowing LSU to get creative with its blitzes up front. But he also played over 300 snaps in the box last season.

Haulcy was versatile, allowing Baker to move him all over the field, playing center field, the shallow zone and blitzing up the middle. Benefield brings a similar skill set, with even stronger man coverage.

His 235 tackles, 18 tackles for loss, 12 pass breakups, 2 forced fumbles and 5 interceptions in his career are statistical proof of why he was the No. 2 safety in the transfer portal, but his spring performance is proof of why he's the best man for Haulcy's job.

Benefield has had no problem filling Haulcy's shoes so far. And not many people expect that to change.

"We talked to our guys about the standards of what you work [for] shouldn't change because of what network your game's on," Kiffin said.

The Mountain West indeed isn't the SEC, but Benefield's "ultra-elite" work ethic has proven to be universal.

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